"We are travellers…not yet in our native land" – St. Augustine
“The refusal to take sides on great moral issues is itself a decision. It is a silent acquiescence to evil. The Tragedy of our time is that those who still believe in honesty lack fire and conviction, while those who believe in dishonesty are full of passionate conviction.”
Venerable Fulton Sheen
“Crises need to be faced together. This is hard, since persons sometimes withdraw in order to avoid saying what they feel; they retreat into a craven silence. At these times, it becomes all the more important to create opportunities for speaking heart to heart.”
Pope Francis, Amoris Laetitia (#234)
Just before Easter, I posted an article written by one of my friends on her one-year anniversary entering the Catholic Church. Now that we reach the end of the Easter Octave, here is another article which she wrote shortly before entering back in 2017…
As the Easter season quickly approaches and thousands of adults around the world prepare for the Sacraments of Initiation (Baptism, Confirmation and First Holy Communion), I thought it would be an appropriate time to explain why a person converts to the Catholic Church.
Of course, with hundreds of faith traditions and spiritual experiences, there could be hundreds of reasons, but I want to give you the top seven reasons why I left my life-long Protestant faith to become a member of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church (although that may describe it right there ☺).
1. Silence
I list this reason first because it was one of the first aspects of the Church that drew me in. When I refer to silence, I simultaneously refer to the feeling of peace within a soul. We live in a chaotic world, a world of incessant noise, a world pulling us in so many directions we sometimes don’t know which way is up. These noises and distractions make our souls crazy; our souls are crying out for inner peace, to just slow down and let God fill us in the silence.
When I first began attending Mass about two years ago, this phrase jumped out at me again and again, “Jesus said to his disciples, My peace I leave with you; My peace I give you.” How our souls yearn for this peace! Imagine how different our lives would be if we consistently let God give us His peace. One of the ways Catholics allow Christ to do this is in adoration. To kneel before the Blessed Sacrament and simply allow the silence to infiltrate our whole being is such an incredible gift; to allow the noises and distractions of the world fade away as we worship God in the quiet stillness of the Church. It feeds our hungry souls. And amongst our busy lives, God reminds us: “The Lord will fight for you; you have only to be still.” (Exodus 14:14)
I think St. Augustine perfectly described our yearning for the peace of God when he said, “Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds rest in thee.”
Today’s song is “In the silence” by Sarah Kroger from her album “Your Time”:
In the silence of the heart you speak,
and your mercy is the air I breathe.
You come to me in whispers
and forgiveness sings.
In the silence of the heart you speak;
Lord, you speak.
To the quiet of this room you come;
I am captivated by this love.
You light these darkened corners,
and I’m overcome.
To the quiet of this room you come;
Lord, you come.
Silence, fall; oh I am listening.
I am listening; sing to me.
Spirit, fall; oh please stay with me.
I am listening now;
I am listening now.
In the stillness of my soul you know;
you are hope that will not let me go.
You are the voice I follow;
you lead me home.
In the stillness of my soul you know;
Lord, you know.
We have had enough of exhortations to be silent! Cry out with a thousand tongues. I see that the world is rotten because of silence!
– St. Catherine of Siena
The last Bucket List item was to go on pilgrimage. Today’s Bucket List item is related to the previous one:
Catholic Bucket List #5: Go on a retreat
In modern society we are surrounded by noise and we fill our days with business and it’s extremely easy for God to be squeezed out of our day. This is one of the reasons why retreats are so needed. Setting aside a day, a weekend or week to reconnect with God and spend some time with him in prayer can be so good for reestablishing a healthy life balance.
No two retreats are ever the same and there are many different kinds of retreat which one may attend. I would suggest that everyone should go on a silent retreat at least once. I know that if you have never gone on one before, the thought of spending long periods in silence is a terrifying prospect, but believe me, by the end you’ll love it!
A couple of years ago I was actively discerning the priesthood and, as part of my discernment I went on a silent Ignatian Spiritual Exercises retreat given by the Miles Christi priests:
Finding time to get away on retreat can sometimes be difficult, especially if one has children. If so, you might like to take a 3 Minute Retreat!
A hermit said, “Chastity is born of tranquility, and silence, and inner prayer”
– De vitis Patrum, Sive Verba Seniorum, Liber V